Here’s how it is – you’re stranded on an island, somewhere in the far South Pacific. Chance of rescue anytime soon is…bleak. So, as you get your Tom Hanks on and go hunting for a volleyball you can name “Wilson,” the heavy question on our minds is, what three books would you want with you? Let me know in the comments, or drop me an email!
Robin Lythgoe
Author of As the Crow Flies
I’m cold. A desert island sounds good right now with its sandy beaches, rolling waves, peace and quiet… I put in a request for palm trees and other vegetation, too. Birds. No snakes. A hammock. One terrific thunderstorm. And chocolate, of course. Would it be cheating if I brought my e-reader and a solar charger? It only takes up the space of one book, right?
Choosing a mere three books is serious business. I think I’ll go with something old, something new, and…
Patricia Reding
Author of Oathtaker
Before I fully answer this question, I admit that I’m going to cheat juuuuuussssst a little bit. You see, I think that others might expect that I should respond to this question by listing first, the book of authority for …
Parker Broaddus
Author of A Hero’s Curse & Nightrage Rising
I have a wonderful life. I’m surrounded, tackled, and set upon by four wonderful kiddos, loved by a beautiful wife, and I have several vocations I truly enjoy. I write, I teach, and I work in real estate. I get to be a part of restoring old buildings in a small yet interesting and thriving community.
All that said, getting stranded on a distant island sometimes sounds like a holiday. I wonder how long I would procrastinate starting a signal fire…Especially if I had three good books.
I think I would want the books to fall into categories – something that I’ve read and love and could read again and again would be the first category. It’s like comfort food. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone settles into this place for me. It’s fun, engaging and nostalgic, while still offering enough literary depth for an extended island stay.
Second, I’d enjoy a book I haven’t read. A big fat one. Probably something that would qualify as a classic. War and Peace? Atlas Shrugged? I tried getting through Dicken’s David Copperfield once, and never made it. The danger would be that I end up disliking it, and I’m stuck on an island with a book I hate. But who knows, in the time it takes to get rescued, maybe we would become good friends.
Finally, I read a small section of the Bible almost every day, but it seems like a cheat to claim the whole Bible. If I couldn’t have the whole thing, having the Book of Psalms would be a treasure, or the Gospel of John.
What about you? Can you relate, or are you more of a Dwight Schrute: “Physician’s Desk Reference-hollowed out, inside-waterproof matches, iodine tablets, beet seeds, protein bars, NASA blanket and, in case I get bored, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. No, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Question, did my shoes come off in the plane crash?”
Comment below or shoot me an email! And, as a brief aside, I’ll be teaching a storytelling class in a couple of weeks. If you’re a writer, or a dabbler, or a scribbler – come talk about storycraft and myth. We’ll tell tall tales and spin new yarns. But be very careful, because you may end up thinking writing can be fun.
We picked one of the same books! And I love how we also both wanted something HUGE. Haha! Great minds.
You do, indeed, have a wonderful life!
That’s interesting about David Copperfield. I found that I very much enjoyed the first half–when David was little. I wasn’t such a big fan of the second half. Then again, I read it before I think I really “caught on” to Dickens, so maybe I should try again one day.
I laughed at the reference to Atlas Shrugged. It is a great and important read–and it certainly fits the “big” description! Aside from that, it could keep you busy with editing, as in marking for removal from the tome, all the pages and pages and pages that seem to say the same thing over and over and over again! (LOL)
🙂
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